John Hickenlooper will say just about anything, a habit he honed while working as a brewmeister and bartender.

After being elected Denver mayor in 2003 and Colorado governor in 2010, he often admitted he measured disaster as the distance between his foot and his mouth.

“I called it ‘Hickenlooper Unplugged,’ ” said the governor’s spokesman, Eric Brown.

Others are calling his goofs “Hickenbloopers,” and it appears disaster has struck back to back, with Hickenlooper on Tuesday and last week raising eyebrows with remarks laced with sexual overtones.

Has the popular governor gone off his rocker? Or are people just paying closer attention, now that the Denver Democrat has been mentioned as a possible presidential or vice presidential contender?

The person who knows Hickenlooper best — his wife, Helen Thorpe — said she’s surprised he doesn’t stick his foot in his mouth more often.

“John is a dork sometimes, which is of course why I love him. He means well, but he doesn’t always say the right thing, and sometimes he is awkward,” she said. “But we know this about him already: He isn’t a typical politician, always ready with a glib comment.”

At a Colorado Business Committee for the Arts luncheon Tuesday, Hickenlooper inadvertently put an R-rated spin on his introduction of Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.

It started innocently, as Hickenlooper reminded the 630 guests that the mayor’s wife, Mary Louise Lee, was an award-winning vocalist.

“We read about how President Obama sings to Michelle in the shower,” Hickenlooper began. “So you can just imagine what the mayor gives his wife in the shower. Uh, I mean what SHE gives him in the shower. …”

The crowd roared. The governor turned beet red. Hancock, who had just walked in, missed the introduction altogether.

For the record, a search of stories about the Obamas mentions the president singing to the first lady, but nothing about doing so in the shower.

Last week, when introducing Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia to a group of 40 elementary-school students during a Literacy Week event, the governor referred to his colleague as “that rising sex star.”

Hickenlooper frequently refers to Garcia as a “rock star,” so that kind of slip-up might have been understandable. But he had joked moments earlier that Garcia was a “sex symbol,” an unusual moniker at an event with young students.

Perhaps the tone for those saucy statements was set at the start of the legislative session, when senators and representatives gathered in the House chambers Jan. 12 to hear Hickenlooper’s second State of the State speech.

Joanne Davidson was The Denver Post's society editor for 29 years before retiring in July 2015. She quickly discovered she wasn't ready for the rocking chair, so she dusted off her evening gowns and returned to the paper as a freelance reporter, writing feature stories and covering charitable fundraising events in the metro area.

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